Shakur Stevenson rolls past Artem Harutyunyan, retains WBC title

Shakur Stevenson was a slick through the final stretch, battling huge underdog Artem Harutyunyan and was able to keep the WBC lightweight title on Saturday night.

By Mike Coppinger

Jul 07, 2024 04:49 AM

 

Shakur Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Artem Harutyunyan on Saturday in the final fight of his promotional deal with Top Rank.

In his third bout in four bouts, Stevenson (22-0, 10 knockouts) was boxing in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Stevenson controlled the fight right from the start of the bell, displaying the techniques that earned him his place as ESPN’s No. 8 pound-for-pound boxer.

In a second straight boxing match, Stevenson cruised down the stretch against a significant underdog. On November 1, Stevenson had a disappointing decision win in a fight with Edwin de Los Santos, the two boxer was able to land double-digit strikes in every round.

Stevenson had a goal to bring plenty of entertainment this time however, the end of the line was not to be achieved. One of the best boxing defensive fights Stevenson is a 3-500 odds-on favorite against Harutyunyan as per ESPN BET.

“It’s kind of hard to prove [you’re the best] if you don’t have a fighter trying to fight back; he’s just trying to survive,” Stevenson, 27, said. Stevenson at the age of 27. “… It would be nice to have liked Stevenson to fight a bit harder to make it an exciting fight.

“I tried everything to make him go away and back home. I managed to remove the ring just a less. … I’m planning to return to the gym to begin cutting off the Ring.”

There were boos in the two rounds that concluded what was largely a smooth fight. Stevenson claimed the jeers were directed towards Harutyunyan due to the fact that “he ain’t really try to make the fight.” Harutyunyan was able to land double-digit punches only one round, in the ninth.

Stevenson was stunned Harutyunyan on the body a number of times, launching 66 of these shots. The winner pounded the opponent 170-74 in total. Stevenson was in control of his range using his jab and was in a position to block Harutyunyan’s attack and respond with sharp combinations from his own.

Harutyunyan (12-2 7 Harutyunyan (12-2, 7KOs) was in action in his debut world title bout. He was in the ring following the heels of a thrilling decision defeat to lightweight competitor Frank Martin in July, the fight where his opponent was knocked out in the 12th inning.

The Armenian suffered cuts on his eyes and left with bruises scattered across his face. Harutyunyan is 33. He was a member of Germany at the 2016 Olympics and took home the bronze medal. In the same Games held in Rio De Janeiro, Stevenson won a silver medal just two weight classes lower than bantamweight.

Stevenson was able to take home titles at 130, 126 and 135 pounds, the weights at which he is currently in the top position. All of his 22 professional fights have been marketed via Top Rank, but Stevenson has entered free agency. Stevenson rebuffed a five-fight contract offer that would have promised the fighter $3 million per fight according to sources at ESPN.

“I want to fight the best fighters in boxing,” Stevenson stated. “That’s how you’re going to get to see the best version of me, when you put me in the ring with someone else that wants to fight back and compete.”

The possibility of a marquee fight is still a distant dream for Stevenson. He’s rated no. three by ESPN for lightweight. The two top boxers in the division, Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko, are in talks to fight in the coming year.

“If they don’t fight me, they don’t fight me,” Stevenson declared. “I’m just going to stay in the gym and be ready.”

Conceicao ends Foster’s title reign

Robson Conceicao won his first world title in his fourth attempt with a split-decision victory over O’Shaquie’s Foster in the world title match-up at 130 pounds.

Brazil’s Conceicao, who was a twice Olympic gold medallist, won with scores of 115-113 and 116-112, and the third judge ruled 112-112 in favor of Foster who was attempting his third attempt to defend the WBC title. The verdict was not a popular one. Conceicao only landed one-fifth of the strikes.

“I thought it was a shutout,” said Foster who is 30 years old and fighting from Houston. “… I believed it was an easy fight. I was not slapped other than an elbow. … It was a shutout. would like to see a fight to be rematch. They took this fight away from me.”

Foster (22-3 12 KOs) took the title with the decision win in the fight against Rey Vargas in March 2022. Conceicao (19-2-1 9 KOs) earlier was defeated by Stevenson as well as Oscar Valdez in title challenges however neither bout was held on a level playing field. Stevenson was stripped of the title after he failed to make weight against Conceicao, and Valdez tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug weeks before their fight.

Conceicao’s 3rd title contest was a draw against Emanuel Navarrete in November, another co-feature in the Stevenson champion fight.

“I do think I won the fight,” Conceicao 35, told an interpreter. “… He didn’t show up for a the fight. It was a race and he ran. I won.”